Court Prohibits Bond Expenditure on Stadium Lighting Because Lighting Was Not Specifically Listed as Contemplated Project

The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, recently held that school district bond revenues could not be spent on stadium lighting where the bond proposition did not specifically list field lighting as part of the contemplated projects, in accordance with the requirements of Proposition 39. (Taxpayers for Accountable School Bond Spending v. San Diego Unified School Dist. (---Cal.Rptr.3d---, Cal.App. 4 Dist., April 25, 2013).

Read the Legal Alert for the details and what it means for your district.

Meghan Covert Russell

Gov. Brown Proposes Boost To Education Funding

Governor Brown's proposed budget, released today, includes a much needed boost to spending on public education. 

The Governor's plan provides $1,046 more per K-12 student in 2013-14 than was provided in 2011-12.  The plan also proposes to invest $1 billion in one-time revenues to fund professional development, instructional materials and enhancements to technology to support the implementation of the Common Core Standards.

For more details, access the press release from Governor Brown's office here and the revised budget here.

Meghan Covert Russell

State Board of Education Issues Proposed Regulations on Student Fees and Bullying

The State Board of Education recently announced it was beginning the process to adopt regulations to implement AB 1575 (2012) and AB 9 (2011) regarding bullying.  AB 1575 prohibits school districts from charging students fees for participating in any educational activity, including extracurricular activities. Districts were required to have policies in place to implement AB 1575 by March 1, 2013. The bill allows complaints regarding fees to be filed with the school principal. Anonymous complaints are permitted, and if the complainant is not satisfied with the decision at the school level, an appeal to the California Department of Education may go forward. The department is authorized to direct reimbursement of all improperly collected fees if it finds an appeal has merit. AB 9 required districts to adopt policies prohibiting bullying based on specific characteristics, including disability, gender, gender identity and expression, nationality, race or ethnicity. AB 9 also required districts to have procedures for receiving and investigating complaints of such bullying. The  proposed regulations published by the State Board of Education amend the existing Uniform Complaint Procedures to include complaints about student fees and complaints of bullying. Comments on the proposed regulations may be submitted by e-mail or in writing until May 15, 2013. The regulations are posted at www.cde.ca.gov/re/lr/rr. 

Marsha Bedwell

PERB Ruling Affirms Teacher on 39-Month Reemployment List Remains an Employee of the District and Able to File Grievance

In Nelson v. Jurupa Unified School District (PERB Decision 2309E, March 8, 2013), the Public Employment Relations Board ("PERB") considered whether a school district committed an unfair labor practice by rejecting a teacher’s grievance because she was on the district's 39-month reemployment list after she had exhausted all her sick leave.  PERB affirmed the ALJ’s ruling that teachers on the 39-month reemployment list remain employees of the district and have the right to file grievances against the District.

For more information, read the KMTG Legal Alert here.

Meghan Covert Russell

Court of Appeal Upholds Invalidation of Parcel Tax That Differentially Taxes Commercial and Residential Property; Legislature Introduces SCA 3 To Ease Parcel Tax Restrictions

The court of appeal recently upheld its previous ruling that a parcel tax approved by Alameda Unified School District (“District”) voters violates the Government Code’s restriction that special taxes apply “uniformly to all taxpayers or all real property within the” district.  On rehearing, the court of appeal upheld its previous ruling that the property classifications and differential tax burdens imposed pursuant to the voter-approved measure exceed the taxing authority of the District under section 50079 of the Government Code.  The court held that the special tax imposed by the measure is invalid to the extent it imposes a different tax rate on commercial property versus residential property.  (Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District (--- Cal.Rptr.3d ----, Cal.App. 1 Dist., March 6, 2013).

In response to the restrictive court of appeal decision in Borikas, legislators have introduced a bill that would ease the requirements for a school district seeking to pass a parcel tax.  SCA 3 seeks to amend the California Constitution relating to taxation by amending Section 4 of Article XIIIA, adding Section 4.5 to Article XIIIA, amending Section 2 of Article XIIIC, and amending Section 3 of Article XIIID, and would reduce the voted approval needed for parcel taxes from the current two-thirds to 55 percent.  The Constitutional amendment would help school districts that have been subjected to years of continued funding cuts. 


Read KMTG's Legal Alert on Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District here.

Read KMTG's Legal Alert on SCA 3 here.

Meghan Covert Russell

SB 559 Proposes to Shift Certificated Layoff Timelines

The March 15 deadline is upon California school districts to issue written notices to certificated employees who will be subject to a layoff. 

Right in line with the deadline comes a new bill that proposes to shift the timeline for certificated layoffs to later in the year to better align with budget requirements.  Of course this is not the first bill of this type and there have been several attempts in the recent years to streamline and revamp the layoff process.

SB 559 seeks to shift the March 15 layoff notice date to June 1 and the May 15 notice of termination to August 1.  The findings of SB 559 explain why lawmakers have repeatedly sought to shift the layoff timelines:

Existing law requires school districts to issue preliminary reduction in force notices by March 15 and final reduction in force notices by May 15 of each year. As a result of this existing law and in order to guarantee that it will remain fiscally solvent, school districts have relied on the January budget proposed by the Governor to determine the number of layoff notices that it must give to its employees. This results in thousands of teachers receiving notices that are later rescinded when more accurate information is available in May when the proposed budget is revised and later when the annual Budget Act is enacted.  According to the Legislative Analyst Office, this practice unnecessarily costs taxpayers $706 per teacher, amounting to millions of dollars annually that could be spent in the classroom and employing teachers. Given the evidence that the existing statutory deadlines hurt schools across the State of California, it will be more productive for the schools, pupils, and teachers if the deadlines for giving notice to certificated employees that the school district may terminate their services are extended by two and one-half months.

KMTG will continue to track the progress of this bill and issue updates as developments occur.

Meghan Covert Russell

March 1, 2013 Deadline for Implementing Requirements of Pupil Fee Laws

AB 1575 was the law which went into effect January 1, 2013 regarding charging of pupil fees in schools.  As part of that bill, Education Code section 49013 was added to the code and makes complaints regarding the unauthorized charge of pupil fees subject the uniform complaint process and requires school districts to establish policies and procedures for pupil-fee complaints by March 1, 2013.  Please feel free to contact our offices if you need assistance with implementing these procedures.

Chelsea Olson